Serve and Protect
by SilverWolf7
Summary: Ninth story in the Lucifer's Flock series! Lucifer looks after Ella when she gets sick with a nasty stomach bug. He finds out just how difficult sick humans can be.
1. Wake Up Call

Ninth story in the Lucifer's Flock series. This is the longest fic so far in the series too! Hope you enjoy. Warning here for vomiting in this story. Sick!fic.

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Serve and Protect

Wake Up Call

The phone woke him up in the morning.

He had been in a bit of a bad mood when he went to bed last night, so he had gone to bed alone. Not that he wasn't up for a bit of rough play in the bedroom, but he just had been reprimanded like a child and wasn't much in the mood for any sexy fun times.

Instead he had talked to Linda, gone to bed alone and buried himself under his covers to sulk until he fell asleep.

Needless to say, he was well rested and in a much better mood for it.

He groped around on his bedside table without lifting up his head until his hand connected with his phone, which he then answered. "Hello?" he asked, his voice clearly indicating he had just woken up.

"Lucifer? Hey, it's Ella. I won't be able to make it to yours in the afternoons for a while. I'm sick."

And that woke him up. "You alright?"

She huffed out what he thinks is supposed to be a laugh. "Stomach bug of some kind. Or possibly the flu. Either way, I am really not feeling well, but I'll be fine in a few days."

He sat up and looked towards the clock on his bedside table. "I can be over in an hour. Got to get ready first..."

This time she did laugh, before cutting herself off and groaning. "Seriously, don't make me laugh, it makes me feel worse. But you really don't have to come over. I'll be fine. Humans get sick like this all the time."

The worry that was slowly overtaking his mind refused to allow that as an answer. "Nonsense. I'll be right over. Doctor Linda once told me no one likes to be alone while sick. So, I'll keep you company."

She was silent for a few seconds, before he heard "Aww, that's sweet. Fine. You want to keep the yucky sick woman company, you can. But you don't have to rush yourself on my account. You still have to get Dusty home and settled."

He let out his breath in a harsh huff. "I forgot about the bird. Usually he wakes me up on Fridays. But, yes. I'll be over as soon as I have taken care of Dusty."

"Okay, if that's what you want to do. See you in a few hours then. Bye."

Before he could get out his own goodbye, the phone was hung up. That was odd and a bit rude of Ella. She usually at least waited until both people in a conversation do their farewells. She must really be feeling awful if she wasn't caring about being nice.

He stretched and pulled himself out of bed, stopping by the bathroom first, before heading towards the towel covered cage in the corner by the window and books, where Dusty sleeps when he stays over for the night. A rustling of feathers lets him know the bird was waking up on his own anyway.

Taking the towel off, he saw Dusty blink slowly up at him, before letting out a quiet chirped greeting. That was a nice change from the normal ruckus Lucifer generally woke up to when Dusty was up first.

"Hello to you too, Little Bird. And I'm sorry for this, I really am, but I am afraid we are going to have to cancel today's fly and Buffy watch. Ella's sick, so I am going to go look after her and she doesn't have a place for you set up yet at her flat. Sorry. I'll take you home to Dan's and make sure you have a couple of almonds if you're good. You want berries or apple for breakfast first though?"

When he had begun his speech, Dusty looked pissed off, but as soon as he heard Ella was sick, he fluffed up in annoyance but let it go. Dusty at least understood the importance of keeping a mate safe, cared for and loved. And the bird did think he was mates with Ella. He wasn't, but that's beside the point. It kept his flock whole and well.

He'd have to call the detectives later to let them know what was happening. He wanted to see Ella first though, so that could wait until he was at her place.

Dusty chose the apple for that day, and he gave him two slices and ate the rest himself for a quick and not at all filling breakfast.

That was okay. He could always cook something much better when he got to Ella's. Maybe she would feel better after eating something? He had never been sick before and had no idea how it felt.

He'd also have to call the detectives to make sure Chloe stayed as far away as possible. He didn't want to push his luck and find out firsthand, after all.

He spent the next five minutes scurrying around the flat looking for the carry cage Dan bought to give Dusty something smaller and more secure for travelling in the car to and from places. He found it in the nest of all places. Dan was the one who placed it down, not him. Why in there, he had no idea.

More questions, no answers, Ella sick.

Dusty got in the cage no problem, which was a good thing really. The bird really didn't like being caged in something so small. Still, it was necessary when in the car.

Ella sick, got to go to Dan's first...

He hated his life sometimes.

By the time he was washed, dressed and ready to leave, Dusty was squawking at him to hurry up. "Hold your feathered arse there, Little Bird. I'm going as fast as I possibly can. Come on, let's get you home."

He picked up the cage, picked up the small carry on case he had stuffed in his closet for such an occasion as this and was soon on his way to Dan's flat.

It took five minutes to get Dusty in his big cage at home and given his almonds for being good. And then finally, at long last, he made his ay to Ella's.

This was his first try at looking after a sick human. He hoped he didn't do badly at it.

His flock may never want him around when sick or injured ever again.


	2. House Call

House Call

Ella had gotten him up at 6 in the morning. By the time he finally made it to her flat, it was 8.

He hadn't thought it would take that long to get both him and the bird ready and to drop Dusty back off home. It had. He felt like he had wasted several hours of life doing nothing, and he had rushed himself too.

Well, there was a phrase that he had heard going around. More haste, less speed. But in his case, he didn't think it was true. He didn't even speed to get there, too worried that if he did and he crashed, he'd have to wait to get there. Sure, he'd be fine, but his precious car wouldn't be and he'd have to look after that before getting to Ella.

Ella looked utterly horrid.

He had knocked before he had let himself in, calling out that it was just him in case she was still in bed.

She hadn't been. She was currently kneeling in front of the toilet, looking several shades paler than her normal skin tone, except for the flush of red at her cheeks. Her eyes had dark bruises under them from what he understood to be lack of sleep. To his horror he noticed flecks of vomit in strands of her hair, which must have fallen in front of her face.

"You look horrific right now, just so you know. What do I do? Shouldn't you be in bed? Do I have to make chicken soup?"

Mentioning food seemed to have been the wrong thing to do, as she leaned over the toilet and her body went into spasms. Soon, she was fully vomiting and Lucifer had no idea what to do. He went over to her and pulled her hair back to stop it getting any messier than it already was. He didn't notice that his hands got messy doing that as he was too concerned with watching her body seem like it wanted to turn itself inside out through her mouth.

He winced at every heave her body gave, whether it produced anything or not. It looked painful. His experience with this phenomenon so far had come from people who had drank too much, and with them it looked more like an automatic thing that just happened. There was none of this, or none that he had noticed anyway.

He bunched her hair up in one hand and begun rubbing her back with the other.

After a minute or two, it stopped and Ella lifted a hand and begun moving it towards the button to flush the horrible smelling waste away. She didn't seem to have any strength in her arms though to lift them high enough, so he stopped rubbing her back and flushed the toilet for her.

She groaned loudly. "Water please..."

And that he understood. Something he could do and do fast. He went into the kitchen and found where she kept her water bottles. He grabbed a full one and, after a few seconds of searching through her cupboards, produced a bendy straw. He undid the water bottle and put the straw in.

Ella was right where he left her, lying with her head lying against the toilet seat. He handed her the water bottle and she gripped it with both hands and begun sipping.

She cleaned her mouth out first and he was worried she was going to start vomiting again when she spat out a few mouthfuls of water, but before long she began sipping on the water without doing so.

He relaxed. Okay, so giving her water. That wasn't that hard. Now he should get her back to bed and never mention chicken soup again.

"Should I carry you back to the bed, or can you walk?"

She handed him the water and slowly got to her feet. She seemed really weak and he wondered if it was because she was clearly exhausted, or because of the illness itself. He was seriously way out of his depth.

"I'm going to bed...can you get me the bowl under the sink, please. It will save me trips to the toilet to be sick in."

He nodded quickly, moving into her bedroom to place the water bottle by her bed in easy reach. He then made his way back to the kitchen. For a reason he couldn't quite grasp right then, he spent two whole minutes just staring blankly at the pipes under the sink, before he remembered to grab the bowl Ella had asked for.

By the time he got back to the bedroom, Ella was fast asleep. He placed the bowl beside the water bottle and worried over her covers, making sure she was comfortable and fully covered and warm.

He then laid down on the other side, let his wings out and curled up by her side. His left wing was covering where she lay while the other stayed still against his back.

While she slept deeply by his side, he stayed awake and alert to her every slight movement.

He vowed that he would keep her safe. While he was here, he wouldn't sleep while she was.

As he looked over to the clock and realised it was getting on in the morning, he quickly got off the bed, shaking his wings out from the awkward position they had started in and went to call the detective.

He needed Chloe to know he wouldn't be in until Ella was once again well.


	3. Calling in Sick

Calling in Sick

He went no further than the door to Ella's room and left it open, before he got out his phone and called the Detective.

He knew by this point both her and Dan would be at the station, and he needed both of them to know not only that Ella was sick, but that he was going to stay with her and be there while she wasn't well. He also needed to tell them to stay away so he didn't come down with whatever it was that Ella had.

Or them, for that matter. These things were contagious for humans and they weren't immune to it like he was. Well, for the most part. So, he wanted everyone to get out of this happy and not sick. With the obvious exception of the one who is already sick.

He took another look at the clock and it was now 10 in the morning. He blinked with the acknowledgement that he'd been there for 2 hours and had done almost nothing during that time.

Okay, so he might have been a bit panicky when Ella was being sick, but she looked comfy and better not vomiting everywhere while in bed. He was definitely calmer now that she was getting the rest it looked like she had really needed when he had gotten there that morning.

Shaking his head and looking away from the sleeping woman, he turned his gaze to his phone so he could hit the right number. Chloe picked up quickly, like always.

"Hey, you're not still sulking are you?" she asked as soon as she picked up.

"Detective! Hello to you too. And no, I'm no longer sulking. I'm calling to let you know that neither me nor Ella will be in today. Ella's gotten sick."

"What? Is she okay?" the Detective asked, and he grinned at the concern he could hear in her voice.

"She says it's a stomach bug and that she'll be fine given a week or so. But I don't want her to be alone and she accepted me staying with her while she is sick, because I'm not going to catch what she has. Please don't visit, I would really like to not get sick myself and I don't want any of you getting sick either and she is contagious at the moment. I think. So, any good advice on what to do? I've never looked after a sick human before."

Chloe sighed into the phone. "All right. Just don't be too much of a nuisance to her. And water, get her to drink lots of water."

"Water, okay, thanks for the advice. Goodbye, Detective."

He hung up and rubbed at his forehead, taking another look at Ella, who seemed to have woken up during his phone call to Chloe.

"Lucifer?"

He smiled at her. "Just calling the Detective and Dan to let them know we won't be in for a few days."

She nodded slowly at him, before reaching for the water bottle.

He went back to his phone to call Dan. He needed him to know not to bother with their daily wing grooming session.

Dan answered just as quick as Chloe had and immediately made things easier for him. Sort of. "I'm with Chloe right now, Lucifer. So I know Ella is sick. You don't have to go into specifics."

He blinked at his phone and grinned. Trust Dan to not bother with introductions either. "Oh, alright. No, I just called you to say don't worry about coming over tonight. I'm going to stay with Ella and make sure she gets some sleep and liquids in her. This bug is nasty. I don't want the Detective around, in case I can catch it. Right now, I am quite immune though and willing to help. But I could be spreading it in other ways. I don't know how it spreads, but I don't want to risk you too, or the Detective. So, please stay away until I tell you not to."

Dan snorted at him over the line. "Ella will be fine. It's probably just the flu."

That did not make him feel better, and to prove it he snorted back at him. "Yes, a disease that still kills people in this day and age. Well, Ella is busy vomiting just now, so I will leave you to the detectiving. Bye."

And he was telling the truth too. As soon as he had mentioned the dreaded word kills, she had gone straight for the bowl she had asked for and begun heaving her stomach contents out. Which basically was just water at this stage. Again, it looked uncomfortable and painful.

He hung up before he got a reply goodbye, but he was more interested right then on getting to Ella. Make sure her hair wasn't in front of her mouth and to rub her back like last time.

To his horror, by the time he reached her, there were tears slowly falling from her eyes and panic seized him. He'd never seen Ella cry before.

"No, no, I won't allow you to die like this, Ella. You'll be fine! I believe that you can fight this thing off. Don't die of this, please. Don't cry."

It wasn't until she had stopped and had put own the bowl again, which was making him feel queasy just by the smell, and she had drank a few mouthfuls of water that she looked at him. Her eyes were glassy and the red of her nose and cheeks was abundantly clear now because her skin was so pale.

"Don't be silly, Lucifer. Not dying. Being sick takes a lot out of me. Because I have no food in my stomach, I'm throwing up acid. It hurts and tastes disgusting. It makes my eyes water. And it's normal. I'm not dying. But do us a favour, rinse out the bowl before the smell makes me sick again..."

He nodded hard and fast, grabbed the bowl and left her to her water and her rest.

He spent five minutes rinsing out the bowl, even though he knew he didn't need that long to do it. He wanted to make sure the smell was fully gone, because he didn't want her to be sick again. He stopped once he was sure that was done, before turning to the toaster and deciding if it hurt less to have food in her stomach, at least if she was going to be sick again, she could actually throw up some food.

He made her two pieces of plain toast with nothing on it.

He took the newly clean bowl and the plate with toast into the bedroom and glared at her until she ate a slice. She only ate one though, so he had the other.

He then crawled back onto her bed, curled up around her and covered her again with a wing.

"Get some more sleep. You look like you should be asleep."

She mumbled something to him that he couldn't understand and drifted off within seconds.

He managed to not cry over her as she slept. He refused to cry while being emotional support for his flock member.

Not crying didn't stop the worry though.


	4. Called a Chicken

Called a Chicken

He had thought that the rest would do her good, but by the time she opened her eyes, his wing over her was getting kind of soggy because she had started sweating from overheating and not just from the fever she may or may not have. He couldn't tell what was hot or not and that was a problem.

He quickly got his wing up off of her and she turned to him, eyes glassy and face flushed and opened her mouth to speak.

She ended up making a sound that sounded a lot more like a croak than a word, but hey, at least he hadn't accidentally killed her in her sleep.

"Water..."

He hopped up, his wings giving a panicked bout of irritated short flaps to balance himself as he almost fell to the floor. She hummed. "Nice breeze," she mumbled in his direction.

He perked up at that. Okay maybe he wasn't doing as much damage to her as he thought he was. Either way, he had no idea what he was doing besides getting her another bottle of water. He only just realised her old one had been emptied while he had been talking on the phone to Chloe and Dan.

"I'll be right back with the water, and then maybe I will flap away to keep you cool."

She smiled at him, her eyes slightly unfocused. "Sounds good."

He definitely hoped the water would do her good, and so far everyone had been recommending he give her plenty of water. So, he quickly went out to the kitchen, got another bottle and picked out a new straw for it.

He was back by her side in under a minute. She held the bottle in both hands, like she was afraid she was going to drop it and sipped at the water.

A weird look crossed over her face and before he could even think of getting her the bowl, she vomited over her sheets. The mess was horrible to look at, and mostly liquid from all the water. But there were...oh, he was going to be sick himself if he didn't do something about that.

Ella just blinked down at her messy sheets, frowning like she hadn't expected that. For once it looked a lot like what he was used to, except with water instead of alcohol involved. It had just happened with little warning and she hadn't been able to act on it.

"Lucifer? I need a shower. And a change of clothes. And my bed changed."

He nodded his head wildly. "Yes! Yes, you do. You're a mess of...mess right now. Can you walk? Do you hurt anywhere? Do you want me to wash your hair for you?"

She stared at him, before giving him a slow blink at the words he was saying. "I'm sick, not injured. I can shower myself..."

He nodded again at that. "Okay, I'll change the bed then, while you are in there. Where's the linen closet?"

"The door before the bathroom. Use the old cotton sheets, not the fancy ones you got me. And thanks. I don't think I'll have the energy after a shower to do much of anything but sleep..."

He looked at her with what he hoped wasn't alarm in his eyes. "You'll drink more water first. Everyone says you should be drinking a lot of water."

She rolled her eyes at him, before slowly getting up, sitting down at the side for a few seconds, before pushing herself up onto her feet. She looked a little wobbly on her feet. He rushed to her side and grabbed at her elbow, until she was steady on her feet and hovered nervously at her side when she was balanced again.

She sighed loudly. "Lucifer, stop acting like a mother hen. I'm fine. Or I will be fine. I've been sick plenty of times just like this in my life. You hovering over me like an overgrown chicken is not going to help."

He quickly tucked his wings away so they weren't visible to her and fought off a blush he could feel wanting to surface across his face. "You think I'm acting like a chicken?"

She nodded. "Always hovering around, white wings, yep, chicken."

He could feel said wings puffing out in irritation at being equated with a clumsy bird who seemed to exist just to be eaten nowadays. Not to mention bad fliers and have become known as being cowards. Seriously, he would never get that. Chickens can be bloody vicious when they want to be.

That didn't make him feel better about things. He left her to go to the bathroom on her own, instead going to the door beside the bathroom and opened it only to freeze. She had several sets of sheets not including the ones he had gifted her. He felt them all to try and find the most comfortable, before pulling out a set of light purple sheets and taking them back into her bedroom.

He stripped the bed of the soiled sheets and it took him a few minutes to get the new ones settled on the bed. He bundled up the used ones and stared at them. He had no idea where the washing machines were. Did she have them in the flat, or is it a shared commodity with the building? He'd have to ask her when she got out of the shower.

He didn't have to wait that long. Apparently she hadn't had the energy to actually wash her hair, but instead just cleaned it off of vomit at the tips. He was fine with that. At least she was clean and back in pyjamas. She looked at her bed, gave him a small, tired smile, before burying herself between the clean sheets.

"Thanks," she said, closing her eyes.

He went for the water bottle, and held it under her eyes. "Drink first and then sleep. Water is good apparently."

She moaned, but reached for it. "Fine. Mother hen."

He clucked at her. This was one point he would hold down on and enforce. She was going to drink her water, Dad help him... The clucking did get a real smile out of her and a small chuckle, so he felt like it was a win on his side, even if she was reluctant.

She refused to eat anything else, and with the scene he had viewed when she had been sick, he could understand that perfectly.

He was so glad he didn't vomit.

Once she had drank a few more mouthfuls of water, had snuggled up under the sheets and he had made sure she was comfortable, he asked where the washing machine was, followed with asking if he could have a shower while she dozed off.

It was a shared commodity in the building down the hall and yes, he could have a shower.

By the time he had gotten the laundry done and got back to her flat, Ella was fast asleep. She was still asleep when he started running the shower. He knew because he inched his way out to check on her when he had it at a nice temp for him to enjoy.

He spent a half hour in there. He was usually fast in the shower, but he wasn't expecting to be hit by a sudden and unexpected crying fit.

At least he was alone and Ella didn't know.

She would never know.

He couldn't worry her like that.


	5. Call the Doctor

Call the Doctor

Once Lucifer had actually cleaned himself off, he realised he had left his clean clothes in his carry case in the lounge room. Sighing, he towelled off with a clean towel which Ella had at least had enough brain cells uncooked left to leave for him and opened the door to the bathroom.

He poked his head around and at not seeing Ella relaxed. He opened the door fully and left the nice hot room and made his way to get out a clean suit to wear. He ran into a slight problem, but it wasn't that bad of one. He had forgotten to pack more than one coat.

He sighed and made up his mind to a) get the washing done again first thing in the morning and b) suddenly wondered why the hell he hadn't packed pyjamas.

Sure, he wasn't going to sleep while he was looking after Ella, even though he was tired after his little crying episode in the shower, but he can live without sleep unlike humans.

He spent five minutes going through every article of clothing he had in the bag, twice, before he realised he'd have to make a quick trip home to get his toiletries. He had accidentally left them at home on his rush out the door.

He decided that one was all Dusty's fault and not his at all. Nope. He is not at all upset or worried about his flock.

He needed advice badly, from an actual doctor. And then it dawned on him that he did know a doctor. He always tended to go to Linda with things that aren't psychological and he was beginning to suspect that it annoyed her more than she actually told him.

So, he picked up his phone and bit his lip, before putting it back down. She did ask him not to call her for these types of situations, didn't she? He knew she had told Maze. And she did keep complaining that she wasn't that kind of doctor, but shouldn't all doctors, even a psychiatrist, be able to deal with something as simple as a stomach bug?

Either way, she knew much more about being sick than he ever would and he refused to allow Chloe anywhere near him at this time so that he didn't get sick himself. He shuddered at the thought of vomiting. It did not look pleasant the way Ella had been doing it for the most part. It seemed to be a group thing when at the club, but a lot less painful.

He got up off the couch and walked over to the door leading to Ella's room and looked in, just to make sure she was still asleep. She was. She was now lying on top of the sheets instead of under them, but she was still way out of it.

He had the urge to curl up next to her and shelter her in his wings again, but last time she had overheated and it had made her sick again. He was now unsure if he should even touch her and it was upsetting. Every instinct in him screamed at him to comfort her and his attempts just made her worse.

He guessed this was definitely one of the differences between their species that he hadn't counted on.

He closed her door as quietly as he could manage, made his way back to the couch, sat down and got out his phone again. It was only early afternoon, so he knew Linda would be at work. Would she get angry at him for interrupting her while she was with a client? Was she with a client? Wait...It was 1 in the afternoon. It's possible she was still on her lunch break.

He decided to risk it instead of wait, while Ella was busy sleeping. He was getting far too stressed to deal with this on his own, considering his earlier reaction in the shower. Before he lost his nerve, he hit the doctor's number and got a dial tone.

Her phone was on. Good, it meant she was still on her lunch break.

She picked up after five rings. "Doctor Martin," she answered, voice soothing and professional as always.

"Doctor Linda! Hello, it's Lucifer. Umm, I have a... slight problem and I don't know what I'm doing and, well, you're a doctor and all and it isn't bad from what everyone else tells me, but I just wanted the opinion of someone who actually might have dealt with this at any time in the past in a professional capacity, and you're the only person I know who has a medical background."

Linda sighed. "Lucifer, it's my lunch break. What's wrong?"

"Oh, I'm not asking you to come over or anything, just a quick phone consult, that's all. I'm not asking for a session or anything."

"Lucifer, spit it out. What is wrong?"

"Ella is sick. She says it's either a stomach bug or the flu. And she invited me over to keep her company and to help her with things like fetching water and cleaning out bowls of sick. You know things like that. She knows as long as the Detective isn't around, I can't get sick, you see..."

Linda sighed, this time it sounded more like in relief instead of exasperation. "Ella's sick? Poor thing. Okay, first, keep her warm, regardless of the fever if she has one. Make sure she stays hydrated, so make sure she has water by her side. Let her sleep however long she wants to sleep. It's one of the things that wall make her get better faster. Umm, if she gets hungry or if she asks for food to stop the vomiting from hurting, make sure it is plain foods. Soups, plain toast, juices if she has any might also be good. And keep her comfortable. She's outside the year ranges of it being deadly to her, Lucifer. She'll be fine in a couple of days. It just might look bad, and she may feel even worse than she looks, but she'll get over it and move on really fast. It's a natural part of being human. You'll probably deal with it more than this once, since you have a flock of humans."

"Okay, so just do what I am doing then. Is it supposed to be this stressful though?"

"Stressful?"

"Yeah, like afraid it is worse than it is."

"Only for those within the range of it being an actual health risk. The really young or really old. Those are the ones this type of illness generally kill. Or the people who are alone and don't look after themselves and die from dehydration."

"So, quite a few who die who are around her age die because of their own idiocy?"

Linda chuckled slightly. "Yes, if that is the way you want to put it. Don't worry so much. She'll pass through the worst of it either tomorrow or the day after. I'm sure of it. But, if it gets to the point where she can't keep down water, call me again and I'll set up an I.V port for her so she won't have to go to the hospital and stay at home so you can keep her safe. Does that sound good?"

He sighed in relief. "Yes, yes it does. I don't think I'd be able to really stand a hospital visit right now. Thank you. If that happens, I will call you. I'll let you get back to your lunch now. Bye."

"Bye Lucifer. And good luck with the minding duties. And welcome to the horrible world of human sickness. You'll pick up skills here you'll use quite a few times through your stay on Earth."

He laughed at that. "You know me, always eager to learn new things. Bye, Doctor Linda. And thanks for the advice."

"Bye, Lucifer. Let me go back to my lunch now..."

Without another word, both of them hung up, letting hr get back to her lunch.

Her advice was little bit more in depth than the Detective's advice was, but was basically the same information he was expecting to get. It actually helped to get confirmation from a doctor to have that all pointed out to him. Especially the parts where Ella falls short of both the deadly ranges of ages to watch out for and she had him to keep her hydrated with water.

He went to check the fridge and found a jug of orange juice. It was likely a few days old now and so was unsure if he should give it to her. If it didn't have a use-by date label on it, so he had no idea if it was still drinkable or edible for humans and this looked like it was squeezed.

He'd have to ask Ella when she next woke up.

Taking Linda's advice to heart, he closed the fridge and went back to her room, making sure she was covered with the sheets, before once again lying down next to her. He kept his wings in their other plane of existence, but still did his best to wrap them around her. At least this way they won't hurt her or overheat her to the point of vomiting again.

Alright, he was ready to tackle this now.

He could keep a human alive through a common illness.


	6. Calling in Home

Calling in Home

Ella stayed asleep for the rest of that day, only waking up shortly after the sun had set for a toilet break and a drink of water. He hadn't had any real time to tell her he needed to go home quick for another change in clothes.

So, it wasn't until she woke up the next morning, the fever slightly worse and drinking the water Lucifer set in front of her, that he finally had the time to ask her.

"I know you're sick and all, and I want to stay here, but I need more clean clothes. I looked in my carry bag and it only had enough clothes for two days. And I already changed once. Also, there is a lack of the pants I wear to bed. Also, I accidentally left my toiletries behind and I refuse to use your toothbrush. And I need to shave before my classy scruff turns into a full blown bloody beard. So I need to go home to pack a few more things. I'll be back as soon as I am done with that."

Ella stared at him, before letting out a breathy laugh. "Lucifer, if you need to go home, go home. I'll be fine without you. I'll even continue drinking water."

He nodded. "That's good, but I don't want to leave you alone. You're not well and it's my duty to keep you safe and well. So, I will stay with you as much as possible. You're not putting me out or off or anything like that. I want to take care of you."

She grinned at him, actual amusement in her expression despite the fever reddening her face and making her eyes look slightly glassy. "Okay, that's your choice and I accept that. I would like some company, but it isn't like I am dong much but sleep and drink anyway. I'm feeling better nausea wise at least. Not as sick that way. Just hot from fever now. I'm already getting better, Lucifer."

He floundered, because while he knew Linda had told him that she'd start getting better today or tomorrow, he hadn't thought it would be so soon. "Well, that's good to hear. But I will be back, possibly in a few hours, maybe sometime tonight. Depends on traffic and if there's anything needing to be done today with the club."

Ella nodded at him and if he didn't know any better, he'd swear it was a nod of indulgence. She was sick and trying to make him feel better about leaving. He stayed where he was, lying on her bed and curled up at her side and everything in him wanted him to stay exactly where he was right then to protect what was his. But it's not like there was anything to fight here. The battle going on was all internal and not something he could help with.

He could heal a wound, but an illness is something else entirely, and he hadn't tried his wings for anything like this before and was afraid it would fail. Plus, according to everyone, this was normal and a regular occurrence for humans. She wasn't in any danger and would live regardless of if he managed to heal her of the bug or not.

So, he decided to leave it.

It had nothing at all to do with the fact that he was afraid he could make her worse by trying to help heal her and doing it wrong.

"Soooo, are you going to go sometime today, or are you going to stay here?"

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going. Just...comfy."

She giggled at that, and he was glad that he could still make her laugh even when she wasn't feeling her best. It made him relax and let her go.

"I will see you again later on today, Miss Lopez."

"I'll hold you to that, Morningstar."

He grinned at her, happy she hadn't lost her personality in the sickness, before leaving the room to go and pick up his carry on. He left the other pair of clean clothes on the couch for when he got back. He didn't want to do any laundry again until absolutely necessary.

He heard the small television in her room turn on as he closed the front door behind him, glad that she had something to do while he was out. He deemed it necessary for his own health to do things as fast, but efficient as possible. Starting with the drive home.

Hr drove the speed limit, getting home with minimum fuss, though the traffic was getting bad with the early morning commuters. At least he managed to miss morning rush hour traffic.

The first thing he did was have a shower and change clothes again, as he had spent all night in the suit he was wearing and it was getting a bit uncomfortable since sometime during the night he had begun to get slightly hot and sweaty. He blamed Ella's fever for that. It was like holding onto and refusing to let go of a human shaped electric blanket. Or a human shaped hot water bottle at the least.

So, he felt slightly refreshed when he got out of the bathroom. A nice clean suit, a nice clean body, and now a nice clean face since he had also just shaved. He grabbed a bag for his toiletries and got to packing his razor, toothbrush and paste, his hairbrush and a stick of his favourite scent. After a few minutes of going back and forth on whether or not to pack it, he decided against the hair gel, deciding that if Ella was okay looking like a mess in front of him, he could let his hair go all wild and curly in her line of sight.

It was already beginning to lose the style he liked. He may as well go all natural haired for her.

Once he was done with that little job, he went to his bedroom, and picked out a fresh, clean pair of his favourite boxer briefs for when he curled up in the bed, regardless of whether or not he was sleeping.

He took the time to set his clock for an hour and lay down and had a nap to help keep him up another night or two. He hoped that was enough sleep, because he was getting tired already and it had barely been a whole day. Okay, a day and a half.

It seemed to have done the complete opposite, as now he was drowsy and not wanting to move.

He did anyway, dragging himself up off his bed, to go pack another two outfits, including a pair of tracksuit bottoms to lounge around in. He rarely wore them outside grooming times, but he would make an exception this one time.

He hoped it didn't give her the idea that he wanted to be groomed, even if he did want that, if only for the calming properties the activity held for him.

He kind of blamed himself for getting her sick, since with him staying away from Dan, she had to do double the work and it was nearing winter now and getting cooler at nights.

He tried to remember if one day he had left the cold water on, instead of switching to the warm water...

How did humans get sick from things like this anyway? Was it a weather thing, or a wet thing, or a catch it form someone else thing. He never understood how people got sick, because humans were always making up stories to tell children about what made them sick or not and half of them weren't true.

He had found that out the hard way.

E did not want to think of that at all...

Shaking his head to clear it of the drowsiness that wanted to put him to sleep, he packed it all up into his bag and took a look around to see if he was forgetting anything.

Shaking his head, noting he had only been gone two hours, he left his place, happy with the time that had taken, but wishing he had taken another one o two hours to nap.

Still, he didn't want to leave Ella alone for longer than absolutely necessary.

When he got back, Ella was curled up on her couch, a blanket wrapped around her, munching on a dry piece of plain white toast. The sick bowl was nearby, just in case. She was watching a movie that sounded familiar. When he was able to see the screen, he realised why. It was Army of Darkness.

He ginned widely. "Hello Ella. I'm back. I see you've been entertaining yourself. And eating! That's an improvement."

She frowned and stuck out her tongue. "I'm not exactly hungry, but needed to eat something to keep myself as healthy as possible. I'm still a little nauseous though..."

He joined her on the couch. "That's alright. I wouldn't expect you to be fine today anyway. Doctor Linda said one or two days and you'd be feeling better. I see she was right."

She blinked at him a few times, her eyes seemed more clear than when he had left. "You called your therapist?"

He nodded. "I thought she should know you're sick too. You are her friend aren't you? And asked her how to help someone who was sick and if I was doing things right. Made me feel better about things."

She smiled slightly up at him. "Well, better is good. Sit down and watch the movie."

He sat down and watched the movie. Near the end of it, Ella slumped against his side and for a few terrifying seconds he thought she had just died right there and then on him, before she snuggled into his side and began lightly snoring.

Relaxing as he realised that she was just exhausted from being sick again, he hugged her to his side, unable to stop himself from once again draping a wing over her shoulders, as he usually did when they watched things together.

He finished the movie, trying not to laugh too loudly and wake her up.

He decided that looking after someone that was sick wasn't all bad. Sometimes it led to quiet, good moments too.

It was the first time they had sat down and watched something, just the two of them. It was actually really nice. He realised that while he wished she wasn't sick, that they had more times like this.

He'd like that. Maybe he could set aside a day for the Detective and Dan too.

It made sense to do so.


	7. Lucifer's Epiphany

Lucifer's Epiphany

It took two long days of worry, thousands of changes of wet washcloths along the back of her neck to try and help cool her down, several bouts of vomiting because she was still sick regardless of her saying she felt better and sleepless nights for him while she slept like she was dead before the fever broke.

And he could not have been happier to see her come out of her illness, even if she was still weak and light headed some of the time.

She was now definitely on the mend and getting better, not just saying she felt better.

It was a tremendous relief.

It was also time for him to go home. He refused to have another shower at her house, since she tended to hog all the clean towels for herself and he was fed up with it and he was absolutely drenched in sweat from the sweating she had done once the fever broke.

He had made sure she drank enough water to bog her down for days. She had already been to the toilet three times that morning.

He was beginning to have trouble concentrating on anything and it was getting to the point where, if he didn't get home fast and sleep, he was going to crash his car on the way home. He was that exhausted from worry and staying up.

Even he needed sleep, regardless of that idiotic saying in which the Devil never sleeps. He happened to like sleep, thank you very much humanity. And he needed at least 4 hours a night to be at his best.

He left Ella to her breakfast of toast with jam, some freshly squeezed orange juice he had made especially for her to replace the old juice in the jug in the fridge and an egg.

He stumbled out the door with his bag and spent five minutes walking to where he parked the corvette. He then spent an additional minute staring blankly at the steering wheel, before he remembered to use the key to start the engine.

He made it back to Lux safe and sound, regardless of his mind wanting to play tricks on him and put him to sleep.

"Note to self, never go three days without sleep again," he mumbled to himself when he made it to his flat. He left his bag stowed in the way of the lift, too tired to bother putting it away, before stumbling his way to his bed, falling down fully dressed in his suit and conking out the minute he crashed down against the sheets.

He didn't wake up until the sun was down. It was the longest time he had ever stayed asleep before and it left him slightly wired. He hadn't had this much energy in days now and he had little way of using it.

He knew he wouldn't be sleeping that night. He needed to get back into a good sleeping pattern or he'd never feel right again...

He spent the energy that night on the club. He danced, drank and had sex multiple times before he dozed off for a nap in the morning. And was woken up quite rudely by a hand shaking him awake.

It was Dan. Dan and Chloe were both standing in his bedroom staring down at him.

The man he'd fallen asleep with was conspicuously absent, but having his flock there made up for it.

"Detectives! What can I do for you?" he asked, his voice making it sound like he was just rudely woken up.

"Ella called to let us know she's over the worst of it. Said you might not be doing too well though and told us to come see you. Are you okay? You're not sick yourself are you?" Chloe asked and he grinned up at her.

"No, Detective, don't be silly. Not sick. I didn't get any sleep while at hers. I was a bit exhausted by the time I got home and, well, I crashed I guess is the right word to use in this situation. But I'm okay. Why?"

Dan and Chloe both sighed. "There was a crash. A corvette. We thought it might have been you."

He blinked. "No, not me. I'm fine and so is my car. I guess it is time to get up now, though. Am I needed at the station today or not?"

They both shook their heads, no.

He sighed and sat up, letting the sheet fall to his waist. They both got a good look to know he was wearing his favourite pair of black boxer briefs. He stretched his arms and sighed. "I am never not sleeping again. That was hard..."

Dan snorted. "Yeah, what if one of us gets sick next?"

He blinked and frowned. "Well, stay warm, stay inside when it rains and make sure not to be around anyone who is coughing and spluttering and you should be fine. Right?"

They continued to stare at him. "Lucifer," Chloe stated, walking down and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Illness doesn't work that way all the time. Sometimes it just...happens."

"Yeah, man, sometimes we just get sick because we get sick," Dan added.

And it suddenly occurred to Lucifer that they were human. He did know that and it was always in the back of his mind, but just then it hit him out of nowhere. They were human. They were mortal with a short lifespan. Even if none of them ever got sick again in their lives, they would still die.

He would lose his flock. All of them. To time.

Even the spawn would die.

He had no idea what his face looked like in that moment, but the two detectives frowned at him. "Are you alright?' Dan asked, as Chloe patted the nearest shoulder to her.

He nodded, unable to find his voice just then to tell them what it was he was feeling. He was suddenly light headed again and tired. So tired.

"I...I think I want to sleep some more now. Can you come back again later?" he asked, and he could barely hear his own voice.

"Lucifer? You're beginning to scare me. What's wrong?" Chloe asked him and he looked at her and blinked.

"I'm sorry, Lucifer is too busy being numb and tired right now to answer, please try again later..." he replied, mainly because it was true and it was all he could think of at that time to say.

They turned to look at each other instead of him and he almost missed Dan's head tilt towards the lift.

Sighing Chloe got up on her feet and went back over to Dan. "Okay, we'll leave you alone for a while, but only for a few hours, Lucifer. We'll be back soon."

He nodded, because he was sure he could get his act together before then.

He needed to figure this out and get it out of his system. So, as soon as they were out the door, he called Doctor Linda for a session.

He was pretty sure this was what she would call a crisis.


End file.
